Progress Monitoring: Baselines and Beyond

The Frenzied SLPs are discussing data collection now that school is back in full swing!  Today I'll be sharing one way I like to take daily data quickly when I have a client with several goals in a 1:1 therapy setting.  If you'd like to see how I took data in the school setting click here.

Firstly, when working in private practice, I like to create a basic treatment plan, a course of action in which I would like to see progress.  Below is an example of a basic treatment plan.

Then I take the goal sheet and create a daily data sheet:
1.  I align the goal #s from the treatment plan to the goal sheet so I know which goals I am targeting without having to re-write them for each session.
2.  I can simply take data only on the goals I target each session.
3.  I also add a place for additional notes.
4.  I would typically hand write on this form, rather than type.  So if I would need additional lines for notes, I would simply continue to the next like and so on until I finished the note.  Then simply add the date of the next session on the next fully clear line.

And that's it!  I can use one sheet of paper for numerous therapy sessions without having to write re-write goals or other excessive information.

How about you?  Do you have a quick data collection system too?  Feel free to share!

Happy Talking!

An InLinkz Link-up

6 Home Hacks for the Busy SLP: A Link Up

Today I am linking up with Doyle Speech Works, to share with you some of my life hacks.  Well some of these are more survival tips when you have an 18 month old on the prowl for anything and everything he can get into.  And some of these are just organizational things I do to make my life easier. So, let's begin!

1.  Water Cooler Spout with Child-Lock:

If you are anything like my family, we drink TONS of water so we use a cold water cooler dispenser.  It became a problem with my then, 12 month old, was sticking his finger in the faucet and letting water spill all over the floor.  Goodbye water cooler?  Oh no!  My wonderful hubby found this awesome water cooler spout with a child-lock for a few bucks online!  Simply press the back button then push down and voila', water flows.  Luckily for me, my little guy has not figured out how to get this one to work...yet! ;)

2.  Upcycle a Vase:

I DETEST having to try and find my cooking utensils hidden away in drawers while I am cooking.  And I MUST have them to the left of my stove as I am left handed.  So this year, I decided to reuse this beautiful vase, I was given as a present, from my wonderful hubby to hold all the necessary utensils I use on a daily basis when cooking dinner.  No mess, no fuss, and it looks pretty too!

3.  Weekly Cleaning Schedule:

I have shared this before, but this is something that really helps streamline the housework for me.  I like to follow my weekly cleaning schedule so I only have to focus on one thing each day which is quick and easy.  Of course, a daily cleaning up of toys each night is a must or my house would look like a tornado hit it! Ha!

4.  Magnetic clip for Take-Out Menus:

I can't stand finding take-out menus everwhere and I do not want them taking up my precious kitchen drawers, so I use a magnetic clip to put them all together and hang them on the side of my refrigerator.  This way they don't clutter the front of my fridge and can free that space up for some amazing kid art! Proud mamas have to display the fridge art! Am I right?

5.  Monthly Meal Plan:

Ok I know what you are thinking.  What?  You plan out what you are eating for a month at a time?  The answer is YES!  I started this a few years ago, b/c I hate asking myself the daily question we all dread "What's for dinner?".  I would forget to pull out meat to defrost and would end up eating something unhealthy or nothing at all.  This way, I plan and use what I have in my house, saving time and money (and who doesn't want to save money?).  Therefore, I purchased this dry erase board and began planning.  I like to begin mid-month to mid-month, this way I can actually plan for 5 full weeks at once!  I keep a running list of dinners my family enjoys and intersperse new recipes to try a few times a month.  I also use pictures to remind me of what's going on certain days.  As you can see, a baseball is on Monday's b/c my son has baseball practice at right at dinner time each week.  I reserve Monday's for easy meals (sandwiches) and crock pot meals. Saturdays are baseball game days and Thursdays are MY FAVORITE DAY of the week, b/c it's LEFTOVERS night and this mama does not have to cook!  

You want to try and meal plan but think you can't do it for a month? No worries.  I have several friends who plan for two weeks and repeat those weeks to make a full month's worth of meals.  Might be worth a try! 

6.  Metal Ring for Hair Ties:

So somewhere along the way, this small metal ring was found in my house at some point.  I don't recall where it came from.  Maybe a child's toy, maybe it has some other function, but for me, I now use it as a way to hold all my hair ties.  I slide them one to metal ring and hang the ring on my hand towel rack next to my sink in the bathroom.  This way when the towel is on it, my hair ties are hidden behind it.  I'm never without a hair tie anymore b/c I keep them all in one place. Finally!

And that's it.  Those are 6 of my life hacks that I use on a daily basis to survive this very busy life of ours!

SLP Love Hurts: A Frenzied SLPs Link Up

It's February and LOVE is in the air!  The Frenzied SLPs know that sometimes love hurts and many times when we love our jobs and clients/students as much as we do, it can sometimes result in a bit of pain on our end.  So this Frenzied Link Up we are turning the "lovey dovey" feelings of St. Valentine's day upside down and sharing our "Love Hurts" stories from the lens of the SLP.

My story begins many many years ago.  I had been practicing speech pathology for about 5 years at this time, when I started a new job.  The first day on the job, I was raring and ready to go.  I was eager to prove myself and show this school they made the best hire choice.  So when I walked into the classroom to bring a little friend back to the speech therapy room, I was not at all worried when the classroom teacher cautioned me regarding his behaviors.  I was no longer the green SLP I was out of graduate school.  No. I was the savvy SLP, who had spent the last 5 years reading and researching various disorders and disabilities.  I was the energetic SLP who was not afraid to tackle any new challenge.  This was not my first rodeo.  I knew I "had this".

My new friend and I walked down the hallway to my therapy room and began play therapy without incident.  My confidence was building by the second.  I was going to conquer the world, or at least this caseload.  I was going to have all my non-verbal students talking within days of meeting me through my sheer determination and fun loving attitude.  Looking back I can see I had very high hopes that were quite unrealistic, but in the time, well, like I said, I thought "I had this".

Then something amazing happened.  Something wonderful.  Humiliating, but wonderful.  As I was confidently playing on the floor with my new friend, I leaned forward to pick up a car. Without skipping a beat, my new pal drove a race car in his right hand while he punched me in the eye with his left.  He didn't look up.  He didn't say a word.  In fact, I almost wasn't sure it actually happened, until my eye started to water.  Oh, it happened all right.  My right eye was beginning to swell.

In that moment I learned a lesson that has stayed with me for the rest of my life.  I broke a cardinal rule when I leaned forward and got too close to my new buddy.  I entered his personal space bubble and I did it without knowing if he was comfortable or ready for such an intrusion.  In time we became the best of friends and I loved his spunk and spark!  But that day, my first day on the job, I had to suck up my wounded pride and take him back to his classroom with a red, puffy, swollen eye.  Some of the best moments in my life have been moments such as this, moments when I have been a bit humbled.

So even though loving our job too much will sometimes result in a bit of pain, pain physically or pain to one's ego (Ha!),  the lesson I want to pass on to you today is the very one this little guy taught me that day several years:  never enter a child's personal space bubble without building a proper rapport first.  I've never forgotten this lesson and in fact, it's helped me many many times over the last decade.  I hope it helps you too!

I love my job.  Sometimes love hurts and sometimes, as John Cougar Mellencamp says, it "hurts so good".  This story, this lesson for me, was a good hurt and I'll always be grateful to my buddy for teaching me this lesson.

Have a tip or lesson you learned because #SLPLoveHurts?  Feel free to comment below.  (Please remember to keep all identifiable client information confidential)

An InLinkz Link-up

Frenzied SLPs Link Up: Quick and Easy Recipes

Today the Frenzied SLPs are linking up to bring you some of our favorite fun easy recipes for your frenzied days.  My recipe is less of a recipe and more of a cheat make shift meal but here goes.

For the days I have no time whatsoever to cook or days like the past weekend, where I spend hours shoveling and had little or no energy for anything else, my crock pot becomes my most favorite kitchen appliance.

Easy Peasy Crock Pot Meatball Subs:

Ingredients: 

1) bag of frozen meatballs

2) 1-2 jars of tomato sauce (depending on how much you like. We use 2.)

3)  provolone cheese (or cheese of your choice)

4)  Rolls

Directions:  Throw the bag of frozen meatballs into a crock pot (on top of a spoonful or two of tomato sauce), and cover with tomato sauce.  Set on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.  Once done, add cheese and meatballs to rolls and voila', you have an easy peasy meatball sub!

Tip:  We tend to make all the meatballs at once and just freeze smaller portions of what we have left so they too can be a quick meal at another time.

Sides:  We like to add a quick Ceasar salad with this as a side using 1 head of romaine lettuce, some chopped/slices black olives, shredded Parmesan cheese, and some Ceasar dressing.

And that's it!  A piping hot meal waiting for you when you are ready to sit down and eat!   

Do you have a favorite crock pot meal for your frenzied days?  Feel free to share below. I'm always looking for new recipes!!! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Thankful and Grateful Blog Hop

The Frenzied SLPs are doing it again...another link up!  This time we are showing our gratitude to you, our readers, for sticking with us on this linky journey.  So, who wants to have a little fun?  Well, if you have been following this link up, than you know already that we are giving away some awesome gift cards to TpT (who doesn't need speech materials?) and Starbucks (more importantly, who doesn't need some coffee?)!  

All you have to do is follow a few simple steps to enter to win:

1. Read each Thankful and Grateful post from The Frenzied SLPs! 

2. Collect the character at the bottom of each post. Don't forget to write down the characters in order to reveal the secret phrase. 

3. Enter the Rafflecopter at the end of any post by entering the phrase. 

4. Visit The Frenzied SLPs Facebook Page for an extra entry.

And that's it! Three lucky winners will be chosen after the rafflecopter closes on 11/13/2015. Good luck to you all!!!

So what am I grateful for this Thanksgiving?

Well so much has happened in my family life over the last year but here are the top 5 things I'm thankful for:

1.  Retirement!:  Um...what?  Retirement?  Well actually I am very grateful that my husband officially retired from the military after 21 years of service this past February.  Of course this means a lot of change, however, the best benefit (hands down) to myself and my children is that for my husband there will be NO MORE DEPLOYMENTS! Yahoo!!!  (All the military spouses out there reading this know what a joyous celebration this is. Ha!)

2.  Transitions!:  Along with retirement came the need to transition from military life to civilian life, which equates to new jobs, a new home, new friends, new...well...everything!  So, thanks be to God, my husband was offered a job he enjoys on the east coast, where we were able to relocate to be closer to our extended families as well.

3.  Unemployment!:  I know you are scratching your head on this one as well but the truth is, when we relocated, I had to close up shop.  I had to close the doors to my private practice, which was always my dream, and head due east.  Yet the joy I have been given from time with my children has been the most unexpected blessing of it all this year!  I will never get that time back and I'm so grateful, I have had it with my two boys.

4.  Sleepless Nights!:  For over a year now, my youngest, who arrived in late September of 2014, has not slept through the night.  He tends to wake up anywhere from 3-5 times a night and this sleep deprived mama was really struggling there for some time.  But, I cannot say I didn't love the time I have had snuggling and cuddling with my little guy in the wee hours of the morning!  Watching him nurse, or snuggle into me fills me up over and over again and I wouldn't change it for the world! (Picture above just for cuteness!!!)

5.  New Horizons!:  And lastly, I'm so grateful to have completed the transition to our new home, gotten my newest state speech license, and completed the paperwork to start up my business...again.  So, the doors of my private practice are OFFICIALLY open once again!  

What a great life I am blessed to live!!!!

So how about you?  What are you grateful for this Thanksgiving?  I'd love to know!

Ok so if you have started this blog hop, here, you can click on the picture below to take you to the first blog in the hop.  If you have been following along on this hop, then by all means, click on the picture for the next blog post. Don't FORGET to grab my letter before you hop right out of here!  

Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!

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Halloween Themed Language Activites: Link Up

Zee

It's time for another AWESOME Frenzied SLPs link up!  Two weeks ago, I gave you some Halloween-themed ideas for articulation, and today I'll leave you with a few for language activities.

1.  Books, books, and more books:  Of course, one of my very favorite activities for language development is book reading.  It's so great for introducing vocabulary, listening comprehension activities, Wh-question activities for recalling story details, story sequencing and retelling of stories.  So naturally it would be #1 on my list.  But what books to choose?  Well I wrote a whole blog post on my favorite Halloween themed books.  Check out the full post here!

2.  Creepy Crawly Categories:  Working on semantic mapping anyone?  Here is a simple fun way to work on category item sorting/naming with a spider theme just in time for your Halloween fun!  Check out more here!

3.  Social Story: Trick or Treating! I made a simple social story for a few of my students who have social communication deficits and you can grab your copy here!

So these are just a few of my fun ways to use Halloween themed activities to work on language and social communication!  What are yours?

Happy Talking!

An InLinkz Link-up

Fall-Themed Articulation Ideas: Link Up

The Frenzied SLPs are at it again with another great link up!  This week we are talking all about your fall themed articulation ideas so don't miss out on the fun.

I have written several blogs in the past about some of my Halloween themed activities but I will try to condense some of my favorites here below.

1.  Articulation Spider Web:  I know this looks like a lot of work but I LOVE incorporating movement into my speech therapy sessions (especially for my little guys).  This simple human sized spider web was made with some black yarn, a fence and a few articulation cards.  For more information, check it out the full post here.

2.  Halloween Bean Bag Toss:  This is another fun movement activity AND it's SUPER simple to create!  All you need is a few bean bags, index cards with numbers 1-10, a Halloween bucket and a bit of space. I like to use this activity for multiple repetitions of target sounds.  Check out the full post here for some ideas on how you could use this fun activity.

3.  Trick or Treat Lane Game:  This is a simple board game I made a few years ago that my clients have enjoyed at this time of year.  All you need to do is print it out and it's for the taking.  This could be used for both articulation as well as language goals.  Just have fun with it!  Go to this original post and you will find it at the bottom for download.

Ok so these are just a few of my favorite activities to do during this time of year to target articulation.  What are yours?  

Have fun and happy talking!

An InLinkz Link-up

Middle School: Materials and Motivators Linky Party

Click on this picture to go to the first blog post in this link up!

The Frenzied SLPs FB page has been at it this summer, updating the way we are able to provide some educational and professional information by sharing tips, tricks, techniques, ideas and materials via bimonthly linky parties.  Now that things are beginning to settle down this fall, I'm finally participating in my first one.

Today I'm going to share with you some of my previously offered materials that could be used for middle schoolers.  Keep in mind, these materials are for students of varying cognitive and communication levels.  Don't miss out on these, most of these are freebies!  Click on the title of each material and it will take you to the blog link for that material.

Middle School Materials:


1.  Auditory Memory: Associated Words and Digit Recall Sheet

2.  Guessing Game: A Picture Match-Up

3.  Self Perception Fluency Survey

4.  Fourth of July: Reading Comprehension Sheet

These are a just a few of the freebies you can find at my website (communicationstationspeech.com) as well as this blog address (communicationstationspeechtx.blogspot.com).  Click under the FREEBIE Friday labels on the right on both pages and you'll find a treasure trove of goodies!

My best advice for working with middle schoolers and keeping them motivated is to do two very simple things:

1.  Keep it fun.

2.  Follow their interest.

You do that and you should be just fine!  Check out all the other great blog posts on this topic from our fabulous SLPs participating in this link up.

Happy Talking!

An InLinkz Link-up

SRN's Love It & List It Linky: Organization!

Speech Room News is hosting her Love It & List It linky on Organization this month, so I though I'd share with you how I organize my materials too.

I know many of you following these blogs are school SLPs but I thought for those of you who are hoping to moonlight with your own caseload or those that are hoping to open your own private practice one day, I'd share with you how I do things in my practice.  First thing to keep in mind when looking at these pictures is that I provide home-based therapy which means I have no awesome speech office to store my materials.  Therefore, all of my speech goodies are in one tiny closet (that happens to be smaller than my bathroom)!  Yikes!  So I try very hard to keep myself and my materials organized.  So here goes nothing... 

This is what you see immediately to the right when you open the door to my "speech closet"!  I have this brown bookshelf that holds all parent resource books, educational textbooks, journals, CEU coursework and school-age and adult therapy materials.  Oh and do you spot my laminator?  I have yet to find the perfect place for it so there it remains for now.

Here is an example of my seasonal therapy materials.  Nothing confidential in this picture!

Next to my brown book shelf are my locking file cabinets, where I hold my client files (hence the locks!), assessments, themed lessons, TpT products and seasonal lessons.  I only lock my client files and assessments (just in case!).

Next to my file cabinets is a utility shelf my husband found on sale at Home Depot.  Because the room is so small he had to put it together inside my speech closet! As you can see it holds many of my wonderful therapy materials.

The top 4 shelves hold mostly games and speech therapy materials!  Yes you are correct if you think they are piled up to the ceiling!  That is about 12 years of therapy purchases and collection...it's a masterpiece if you ask me!!!

The bottom shelf holds plastic totes full of my craft materials and materials for specific holidays.  Yes my labels are ugly...I KNOW!  My next project is to create cute labels for these totes.  We shall see how long that takes. :)

On the back wall of this room, you can see I used a multicolored bucket shelf (bought from consignment!) for toys and materials I need more readily.  I have my band in a box, some sensory toys, my bowling set, my baby dolls, puppets, cars and homemade and purchased language based card decks and bingo games.

By the way, in the frame above my coat hooks is my business license!  So proud of that piece of paper!!!

On the left wall is a built in shelf (GLORIOUS!) that was here when we moved in.  Top shelf, I have some fun toys: farm, Mr. Potato Head, jungle animals, duplo blocks, etc.  The second and third shelves are filled with more art supplies as you can see below.  

I really need to make these labels cuter!

The next two shelves are full of book that I love the use in therapy.  Don't worry they aren't all of my books...I have a whole other bookshelf in my son's closet!! Hahahaha! The bottom shelf, are my puzzles, and other manipulatives   Below that are two more large totes full of miscellaneous materials that would fit no where else.  I know it looks awful but I will eventually find a better way to organize it!

On the back of my closet door, hangs my articulation cards.  I don't know who first thought of this idea, but I believe the first person I saw share this idea was Jenna at SRN but don't quote me on that.

And finally, that last thing I want to share with you is how I organize my picture symbols.  I organize them by category and they are placed in a hardware organizer I bought (also on sale) at Home Depot!

So that's it!  That's my home "speech closet"!  I know it's a bit stressful for some of you to look at, but I like knowing where everything is.  And do you know what is the best part about my closet?  I can just close the door!!!

Happy Talking and Organizing!!!!